Man killed in Abbotsford drive-by shooting was close associate of targeted gangster

Published: June 24, 2013

Paramedics and firefighters transfer a victim to an ambulance after a shooting Sunday, June 23 near West Oaks Shopping Centre in the 32600-block South Fraser Way. Submitted photo/Global BC

IAN AUSTINVANCOUVER DESI

Harpreet Chahal, who was gunned down Sunday in Abbotsford in a â€śtargeted, gang related shooting,â€ť was a close associate of Jujhar Khun-Khun, a gangster who has survived two attempts on his own life.

Chahal and Khun-Khun faced a raft of charges in the 2006 kidnapping and robbery of a truck driver.

Surrey Provincial Court Judge Jean Lytwyn, calling the kidnapping a â€śrandom, brazen act of violence,â€ť sentenced the co-accused to three years for their part in the crime.

The court heard that Chahal and Khun-Khun confronted the driver with replica guns, identifying themselves as law enforcement officers as they handcuffed him and put him in their car. The pair drove around Surrey before finally releasing him with a warning â€śnot to phone the police and not to identify the participants.â€ť

Khun-Khun has since survived two attempts on his life, and was one of three men charged with the 2011 murder of gangster Jonathan Bacon â€“ the beginning of what police have described as a â€ścascade of violenceâ€ť with multiple gang murders and attempted murders including Sundayâ€™s fatal takedown of Chahal.

Chahal, 25, was shot and killed while driving his black Mercedes near Emerson Street and South Fraser Way. He was fatally wounded shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday near the West Oaks Shopping Centre, and died in hospital.

â€śThis shooting occurred in a very public area where innocent people could have easily become victims,â€ť said Sgt. Jennifer Pound of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. â€śWe are urging anyone with information to come forward and speak with investigators.â€ť

Witnesses told police that the shots came from a light-coloured vehicle that fled the scene shortly after the trigger was pulled.

Both the victim and the suspect car were travelling westbound on South Fraser Way when the shots were fired.

People travelling with Chahal fled the car after the shooting and police are trying to identify them.

Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT tipline at 1-877-551-4448 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.